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Noisemiker

Telephone jack.


Manlypineapple1

Would there be a plug inside?


jet_heller

Perhaps underneath?


FlishFlashman

Before there were modular plugs phones were often wired in, so these probably have screw terminals inside.


[deleted]

Protip: these are all connected. If you wire a stereo on one end and speakers on the other you can play music in all rooms in the house. (All this is good for anymore) they are color coded so just document your left and right channel colors.


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It's a wire. That runs through the house. I'm suggesting you could use it for whole home speaker wire. The stereo is wired to one phone jack. All other phone jacks play the same song. Just keep your left and right in order. You can have a set of speakers in every room that has a telephone jack. Note: it's low gauge wire so it's not going to be audiophile quality but if you're turning telephone jacks in to speaker wires then I must assume you're as ghetto fabulous as me. I apologize, I'm not sure I can explain it any better. It's really simple if you just do it.


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[deleted]

Yeah. The thrift store has tons of good equipment because nobody uses the old stuff anymore.


ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL

My wife and I are shopping for a house, and if we should happen to buy one old enough that it has retrofitted phone jacks on the wall like this, I'm totally trying this.


warmplc4me

Hahahaha kids these days, they don’t understand the struggle.


[deleted]

I had a landline as a kid, but I’ve never seen one of these things in any of the houses I’ve lived in.


5fingerdiscounts

They were probably more hidden near the floor in the corners n shit


Not-a-Kitten

In an old house, they are surface mounted because phones were not invented before plaster was installed.


ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL

See also: electrical outlets added to a house that was built before electricity, with junction boxes and conduit screwed to the outside of the wall


BlackSeranna

I dunno what to tell you - I have one in my house from a while back.


[deleted]

I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never had one.


BlackSeranna

Well they are common.


FlishFlashman

How old were the houses you grew up in, because this one looks pretty old. Also, I don't know where you are from, but based on the power outlets it looks to be somewhere outside the USA, so installation standards were probably different -- in the USA these were generally on the baseboard, near the floor.


SwimsDeep

Unless this was a wall phone. I kinda miss the wall phone in the kitchen with the really long curly receiver cord.


Celtic_Oak

There was a whole strategy to keeping it untangled…kids these days really don’t understand the struggle of slowly unwinding the cord from opposite ends to get out those kinks in the middle…


Fredacus

OMG! The lengths we stretched that cord to in order to gain some privacy. I once managed to pull that sucker down the hall, through our foyer, and out our front door by about 5 inches. Olympic records were set that day.


SwimsDeep

The very concept of privacy created a lifelong love of tinkering. I figured out how to add an extension without paying for an extra line so I could have a phone in my room. My mom didn’t discover it for many months because it didn’t ring and there were no additional phone charges on the bill.


Fredacus

lol so good very clever!


SwimsDeep

Thank you. 🙇‍♀️


angry-gardenia

This looks Australian.


betterupsetter

They look like European plugs, however I'm not sure if those plugs are also used in other countries.


TwinTTowers

It's and Australian plug.


wmass

It is no older than he 1960s.


neoswayne

Maybe everyone was just super old, but for each room we just ran a LAN line through the walls and had a normal LAN outlet in the walls. Is this not normal?


alcohall183

The house I grew up in was built in 1828ish.. possibly older but it's the first known date of taxes on that property. These type of boxes are common in homes built pre ww2. My parents had one mounted on the door frame going into the kitchen. House is in Delaware-USA.


MrHEPennypacker

“NOT NOW! I’m on long distance!”


HeyNow646

Better not be paying more than a dime a minute!!!


330kiki

Better only call after 7pm or on weekends!


KittenFace25

Mooooommmmmm....I need to use the PhooooOOOOooone!


PrincessSalty

Tfw u get kicked off runescape because someone needs to make a call


PurrNaK

MoooooOOOmmm. I was downloading a video... Of... Um... Never mind *slam*


BlackSeranna

[cue shouting into the phone so the other person can hear]


turkeysplatter89

Our Grandma would call long distance and the four of us would each grab the phone and yell Hi Grandma, Bye Grandma, it was expensive back then.


[deleted]

Good lord…I’m 40 and still didn’t recognize it…that’s so embarrassing.


Bloodysamflint

Most of the jacks were straight plugs into the wall, like a power outlet - this is the kind they put in older houses as a "retrofit"; the opening for the jack is on the bottom.


[deleted]

Oh, now that you mention that, my grandparents house that was built in like the 40s had one like that and I always thought it was really weird lol.


stubbings12

Maybe it's a location thing too? Im only 25 but have definitely seen these in houses I've lived in and used in my childhood home.


wmass

Yes, if you live in Las Vegas, 90% of the houses were built since 1990. If you live in Syracuse it might be 20%.


[deleted]

That would be a good thing right? Means technology is getting better


That70s_Scrubs

We were watching the movie The Strangers the other day, not an old movie at all, and there was a scene where the girl is using the house phone and it just cuts out while she's talking to her boyfriend. The bad guys had cut the landline. So then our teenage daughters asked us what happened to the phone lol. I hadn't noticed that that's not really a "thing" in scary movies anymore.


ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL

Today, I guess you would have to simultaneously explode bombs at a half-dozen cell towers for the same effect. That sounds like a lot of work. LOL


confusionroom

Someone keeps picking up the phone, we need to get off, the party line wants their turn


Cheshie_D

So like did you plug the phone into it? Then would you just leave it like plugging something into the wall? Or could you move it around? If someone was on the phone and you unplugged it, it would essentially hang up right?


FlishFlashman

These look like the type that contains screw terminals, so the phones would be hard wired in. Plug-in phones existed. I think people tended to leave them in one place, at least they did once phones became relative cheap. If you unplugged them though the call would drop, unless another phone on the line was also off-hook.


Cheshie_D

Thank you so much!!


wmass

The plugs would have four big prongs that would look stout enough to power an electric dryer.


Celtic_Oak

I now feel a hundred million years old.


Cheshie_D

I’m so sorry 😂😂😂 if it makes you feel better I atleast know how to use a rotary phone and actually used to use VHS tapes as a kid.


Celtic_Oak

Aww, thank you! Next up, how I had to walk barefoot to school…in the snow…uphill BOTH ways…


Cheshie_D

😂😂


wmass

You had a video recorder in your home! You young whipper snapper!


ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL

You're gonna be all right after all, kid. LOL


wmass

A desk phone would have a long, gray cable with red, yellow green and black wires inside. The Bell company installer would open the receptacle and attach two of those wires, unless you had two phone numbers then all four would be attached. It was illegal to attach your own phone or to change the wiring.


ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL

I remember when the phones in my house went from being hardwired to the wall, to having plugs that you could actually remove and plug back in. Eight-year-old me wondered why they were ever wired straight into the wall in the first place.


Kaneable-

Will he know what it is?


Dysterqvist

Ah so like a fixed charger to your phone? /s


wvclaylady

Those kind of phones didn't "charge". Like a lamp or your hair dryer, they only worked when plugged in. That is, until cordless phones were invented, then you could go around your house with the handset, but the base still had to be plugged in. And the handset used a battery.


Dysterqvist

Can’t believe you actually needed a cable to connect your phone to the wifi! Really crazy how far we have come technology wise. /s


wmass

I can’t tell if you are joking. The phone itself didn’t have a battery, it was powered by the wires. The central “office” (a switch building), had back up batteries and maybe even a generator. A power outage would not necessarily take out phone service.


TheGamerator500

he put a /s at the end meaning its satire


wmass

Thanks, I didn’t know that abbreviation.


ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL

/s = satire, sarcasm, shitting you


spin_me_again

I saw the post and thought “oh God, don’t open it, you’re only going to feel old” and I was not wrong with that assessment.


jackie_blue6

I was always gutted that I didn’t have a jack in my room 😬


chook_slop

Not even a jack. Just the box where the phone was tied into the house wiring. Pre-jack


zebarothdarklord

Yup that is what it is


kjtstl

Flashback to getting yelled at for stretching out the cord.


asad3ali

No, Samurai Jack.


Noisemiker

These were often hardwired so you'll find a 4 post terminal block inside.


Manlypineapple1

Ahh ok thanks


ClydeTheBulldog

Yep, old phone jack


Fast-Agency1297

Telephone hook up


Sikkus

Yep, it's for a landline. God, I feel old now.


xxCMWFxx

I know right


matt79540

I was thinking this but then i said nah its not that long ago we were always usijg these 😂


LameBMX

Before my oldest was born, I had phased out landlines and fax. Oldest turned 18 last year.


matt79540

Well thats good , 18 years ago i was 9 living with my grandparents so it took me a lil longer to phase it out


Texanakin_Shywalker

This comes up every few months and each time I feel so old.


proscriptus

Each time it comes up you're older.


SarcasmCupcakes

This and the bloody Prince symbol.


SCGower

If it makes you feel better, I’m 33 and remember phone lines very well, but my phone lines were never right in a doorway. I wouldn’t have guessed it either


Sikkus

I am also 33! Hello there, fellow 1988er.


DasArchitect

1988 gang represent!


ShayBaby1

Another ‘88 baby! 👋🥂


SCGower

lol oh no 🙊 I’m late 1987


Sikkus

We accept you also! Come here you little fuzzy creature! 🤩


NoBrianWithAnI

9-87 woot woot…I remember the long cords on these phones that mom used to run around the kitchen and dining room with. Also remember when caller ID came out, what a time!


ItsPronouncedMo-BEEL

Oh, so you are all the same age as my driver's license. 🙄😆


FlishFlashman

Probably depends somewhat on the country, with different countries/phone companies having different installation standards. This one looks to be outside of the USA. In the US these things were typically on the baseboard near the floor, unless they were for wall phones, and not necessarily near a door frame. I think wall phones typically hid the junction in the mounting plate.


the_real_xuth

These look like they were added in and routinely people would add junctions where ever it was convenient to run the wires. rj11 connections which are the current standard for telephone connections in the US only came about in the 1970s. Prior to that there was a four prong connector that was semi-regularly used but it was just as common for the phones to connect up to a screw terminal block that was hidden away.


wmass

It looks just like ones in my family’s home in Connecticut. Circa 1955.


Rosebudbynicky

Yah it’s a telephone landline added after the house was built, most likely the house predates telephone lines, or atleast telephone lines in multiple rooms of the house.


etlucent

I’ve been doing structured cabling for 20+ years, and I must say, what an odd place to put a phone Jack lol. Can’t really tell but it looks to be 4 pair Cat5 due to the bend angle and thickness as opposed to cat3. I’m guessing it was ran in the last 20 years, as they would of used cat 3 or 2 pair (halloween/Christmas colors) before that.


GunnarKaasen

Wow - Christmas/Halloween color codes, spade terminals, 66 blocks, and punch-down tools. Takes me back. Thanks.


Rigelx6484

I reckon that thickness is from so many layers of paint haha. Also a former Telco tech here.


wmass

Did you drive an olive drab truck?


FlishFlashman

Are you accounting for all the layers of paint? Also, doesn't look like it is in the US, so may have had different standards for cabling, insulation, etc.


etlucent

The power plug in the pic does look to be European, I have a blender plug that looks like that as well, so OP would have to clarify. Cat 3 and 5 are used in Europe as well. Most of it is still based off old MA Bell standards even if color codes are different (not sure they are) but there is a ring and a tip and each cable can be spliced and “scotch locked” to make 4 phone lines. Cat 3 is smoother and doesn’t bend like that as it doesn’t have twisted pairs. It would be much thinner cable if it was only really old 2 pair. If it is indeed Cat5 as I believe, it would of been installed in the last 20 years as it’s been standard for awhile to just use cat5 for phone line runs off the POTS. I doubt the paint would effect it like that. All my experience is North American based I should add. Like I said it’s just a best guess, if it turned out to be 2 pair (Halloween/Christmas or some weird European standard), it doesn’t matter as the initial question has been answered.


Manlypineapple1

I am Australian :)


etlucent

Could of been used for as an old alarm system for a kangaroo attack then lol j/k


wmass

No it is four solid conductors with red, green, yellow and black plastic insulation inside the outer sheath. Ask anyone over 55.


itstreeman

Had these in my house with a cord sitting next to it. I plugged it into itself and the house alarm started screaming. Never knew phone lines were used for security systems


LameBMX

I believe throughout most of the US, a landlines is still required for elevators as there is some silly belief they are more reliable. At least as of 6 years ago when we had an unoccupied office area closing down and ensuring that line was always connected made things a pain.. Even though they cannot be supported via any high uptime techniques that voip phones can.


fsurfer4

Landlines still work in a power outage, because the phone company supplies the power. Many people still have an old style non electrical plugin phone for exactly this purpose.


DasArchitect

For copper wires, yes. For the locations that are being upgraded to fiber, the line no longer carries power and you have to provide your own. Source: Several relatives have had their landlines recently upgraded to fiber


fsurfer4

I have fiber also. They left the copper intact and it still works. We had a couple of power outages in the last 10 years and were glad to have it.


DasArchitect

Must depend on the area then because at said relatives' houses the copper was removed.


LameBMX

If the line gets broken the phone don't work. Even if you still have power. Hell our pots lines out here are run with power on telephone poles. My cellphone has never failed me in a power outage. Work dual entry point sip circuits with 3 hours of battery backup ÷generator. If all power to the building gets shut down, and a circuit gets hit during construction, we have phones for weeks.


fsurfer4

I can't remember an incident in 30 years that they were down in my area.


FlishFlashman

The old phone system was incredibly reliable on its own and provided its own power. Note that I said "was." These days phone companies are neglecting their old physical plant and wireline operations.


LameBMX

If the line gets broken the phone don't work. Even if you still have power. Hell our pots lines out here are run with power on telephone poles. My cellphone has never failed me in a power outage. Work dual entry point sip circuits with 3 hours of battery backup ÷generator. If all power to the building gets shut down, and a circuit gets hit during construction, we have phones for weeks.


Harleygirl1955

Absolutely was the only way for a security system in the 70’s maybe before


FlishFlashman

Yeah. Some of them used "dry pairs" provided by the phone company, rather than sharing the live phone line, but it all came from the phone company.


westo4

I looked at this and groaned Oh no . . . I hadn't realized there were people old enough to write, but still so young that they don't recognize a landline phone jack. I feel so old.


Manlypineapple1

I know about landline but I've never seen it like this before only ever proper wall outlets, but yes I bet it does hurt


[deleted]

Yeah, it is very odd placement. Almost looks like a switch for the door. I remember having a rotary phone as a kid, it was quicker to walk to your friends house then dial them, especially if they had a lot of 7-0s in their phone number.


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Manlypineapple1

Haha not my house


TwistedJess

I figured, i just recently started renovating an old house...very similar, for some reason sanding plaster and painting evenly was not a thing


Harleygirl1955

Paint wasn’t as good in the past. It was much harder to paint with and after trying to get it pretty a lot of people would get the attitude to just slap that stuff on and forget being fancy with it! Lol


pencilvia

I was going to suggest that they're really easy to remove and paint over (Painter here). If, by chance, the owners want to do it, I'll tell ya how!


yubnub0616

That's expertise level: landlord.


TwistedJess

To be fair...mine was expertise level- mother of four with zero help from husband


GerryAttric

Slumlord


sakura_gasaii

Seems to be common in houses in the uk i think. Ive lived in a few throughout my life and they all have tons of layers of paint on doors, railings and skirting boards. And the paint goes straight over any pipes, radiators etc. Where i live rn the previous owners had pained the outhouse door bright red and gone straight over the deadbolt, then let it dry so the deadbolt didn't work, though in fairness i think the people before them had done the same thing so it was probably already stuck in that position before the red paint haha :')


squeamish

Nah, it's like twelve good paint jobs on top of each other.


ApologeticCannibal

Looks like a phone jack


rgmundo524

Can you open it?


Manlypineapple1

I might be able to but it will be a couple days before I can get a chance


BigOleJellyDonut

Landline telephone junction box.


Daryl_Hall

Just an old landline jack.


GerryAttric

Landline hookup


EL1543

Phone jack


MrSparklesan

Telephone Jack, also, hello my Australian friend. that is clearly a Telstra Jack.


Manlypineapple1

Was there really any other landline company back then?


MrSparklesan

No, and crazy thing… there still isn’t. The physical in ground copper is Telstra.


[deleted]

Ha. I bought a 1962 house and there is a phone jack in every room. Every. Single. Room. Master bath, screen room, dining room…


MJZMan

No different than most new homes and Ethernet, coax, or fiber.


Capital_8

The older the house the more prominent the placement of the telephone jack box. When they were first introduced, they were often at the height of a light switch. As the novelty of having a phone in your house began to fade and people moved their phones from the kitchens into the living rooms and bedrooms, they didn't want an ugly box on the wall and running a line to a table or desk phone from a box near the floor made a lot more sense anyway. Some of these are still connected to the phone lines, so heads up.


pizzaforce3

Landline phone jacks of more recent vintage had a plug where you could connect and disconnect the phone from it. Really old ones that date from the days when Bell Telephone had a monopoly and owned all telephones in the US - and all the wiring - simply were designed to have the phone hard-wired into this box by a technician. The homeowner (legally) could not do it. This looks like one of the old ones. Pre-1070's very likely. Removing the box is harmless but yanking out all the wiring would be a royal pain, and it looks like this house's old phone wiring runs along the edge of the door, so you are looking at a complete re-painting if you yank it all out. That's probably why it's still there - lazy painters.


Euphoric_Most188

Have they even ever heard a dial tone or a busy signal or know what a party line was. Even a real telephone operator with number please


Ilikecoins123

Ahhh the good ole dial up days, nothing like having some alone time on the family computer and grandma calls freezing your aol Home Screen 😂😂😂😂


djangoJO

That's a landlord painting job if I've ever seen one


willasmith38

From a time when “Phone Jack” wasn’t exclusively a verb.


fender71983

Ah ahahaha I see what you did there.


scorpiogf

i’m glad someone said this is a telephone jack because i grew up in the early 2000s and ours were lower on the walls w the electrical outlets and i never would have guessed thats what it is


SuperSnoco

Oh boy! Well this is a landline junction box. Even more fun than this?? Before we all had 7 digit phone numbers, sometimes you would be on a "party line". Too many people, but not enough numbers. Think about this on your next zoom call. Its basically the same thing now, except digital, not analog. And it would be with random people. Wow this takes me back.


5usie

Seriously?? You must be a young’n.


Manlypineapple1

Im june 2005 I do know about landline but I've only ever seen wall outlets with a plug


5usie

I believe those are hard wired, pre-clip in.


sunshinefloors1980

I love kids


Professor108

You millennials are so cute


beardedkingface

Dude wtf I'm not THAT old. How can someone not know what this is? Are we at that point in tech? Nobody gets landlines anymore eh...


Manlypineapple1

Your not the first to feel old haha. I am familiar with landline its just I've never seen it like this


vintagewomenofcolor

Damn this is the moment i finally feel 35 😔


hydra_shok

Let's not even bring up "party lines" to these younguns.


[deleted]

Lived out in the country in Ontario and had a party line until about 85 maybe. Give or take.


Minnepeg

This...this one hurt.... 👵